Silicon Curtain

GUEST: Robin Horsfall, soldier, writer, campaigner and keynote speaker. ---------- The existence of the USSR over many decades unfortunately shows that tyranny can be tenacious, and the extreme barbarism it deploys to suppress freedoms can last a long time and exact a huge toll of human suffering. That is why our weak strategy towards a decisive Ukrainian victory and complacency in the face of a revanchist, totalitarian (even fascistic) Russian World ideology is so very dangerous. We underestimate how pernicious, destructive, and long-lived this new wave of illiberal aggression from the Moscow swamplands could be. ---------- SPEAKER: Robin Horsfall joined the British Army at the age of fifteen in 1972. He served with the Parachute Regiment and 22 Special Air Service. He left the British Army in 1984 and worked as a mercenary, bodyguard and as a medical officer is many active zones around the world. He then built London Karate for twenty years, teaching thousands the art and discipline of karate. He retired and went to Surrey University aged 56 and graduated in English Literature and Creative Writing three years later. He is the author of several books including his hugely successful autobiography Fighting Scared - which I highly recommend you read. ---------- LINKS: https://robinhorsfall.co.uk/books/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-horsfall-52243220/ ---------- BOOKS: - Slava Ukraini! Who Dares Shares (2023 - Signed hardback) - Fighting Scared - The Words of the Wise Old Paratrooper - Warrior Poet: A Soldier’s Songs Find out more about Robin's extraordinary life and achivements here, as well as an online shop to buy his books: https://robinhorsfall.co.uk/ ---------- #robinhorsfall #sas #britisharmy #paratrooper #ukraine #springoffensive #ukrainewar #russia #zelensky #putin #propaganda #war #disinformation #hybrid warfare #foreign policy #communism #sovietunion #postsoviet ---------- WATCH NEXT: Sir Richard Shirreff https://youtu.be/UMi1Y3iF710 Operator Starsky https://youtu.be/ABIIyNa1AOk Anders Puck Nielsen https://youtu.be/2TJTUuu_cM0 Ben Hodges https://youtu.be/gpzfEVhdNp0 John Spencer https://youtu.be/2lmAOWfQvdE ---------- PLATFORMS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSilicon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

This week Russia attacked Odesa with missiles and drones, seriously damaging the Odesa National Art Museum building, a designated UNESCO monument (which was 124 years old yesterday). Missiles also hit the city centre damaging several multi-story residential buildings. Eight people were injured by shrapnel wounds. Night after night, Russia hits vital infrastructure, residential building, transport links and cultural objects. Russia is exacting an ever-greater toll on Ukrainian heritage and lives, wealth, and industry. When will fascist Russia be stopped and held to account for its crimes? ---------- ABOUT: Joe Lindsley is a traveller and a writer, and American reporting on Chicago's WGN Radio from Ukraine each and every weekday of Russia's full-scale war. He once was protégé to Fox News founder Roger Ailes, but Lindsley escaped that frenzied world where power mattered more than truth. He came to Lviv for a Ukrainian Catholic University journalism conference on Information Overload, AI, and Responsibility. Then the Coronavirus shut down world travel, and he stayed to build a better vision for the media industry. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- LINKS: YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@uafreedomnews Website: UkrainianFreedomNews.com Truth to the World. Supplies to Ukraine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lindsley https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-lindsley-60087618/ https://twitter.com/JPLindsley https://www.instagram.com/jplindsley/ https://linktr.ee/ufnews ---------- Please like and subscribe to see more great speakers and content on the Silicon Curtain channel, and check you are still subscribed to the channel, as many YouTubers covering the war in Ukraine have reporting losing subscribers, in a way that is unexplained, perhaps as part of some algorithmic change or process; I’d hate for you to miss out on some of the great greats we have lined up. Please also consider becoming a patron to support the work of the channel, or ‘Buy me a Coffee’. ----------

In this episode, we explore how the “black box” of Chinese politics operates. How Xi Jinping seized power, and how he maintains control. We examine China's soft authoritarian power and the apparatus of the absolutist state. Does Xi's iron grip over the CCP and China come at a cost - is it stifling innovation and economic growth? ---------- ABOUT THE GUEST: Michael Sheridan is the Author of a new history of Hong Kong and China, and a long-time foreign correspondent in Asia, Middle East, and Europe. He was the Far East Correspondent for the Sunday Times for 20 years, based in Hong Kong, and later Bangkok. He delivered political and economic news from China, Japan, North & South Korea, southeast Asia, and Pakistan. He covered the rise of China and the handover of Hong Kong, upheaval in Burma and the fall of Suharto in Indonesia. Her reported on the 2011 Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown, and covered multiple assignments to natural disasters involving mass casualties, including the Asian tsunami of 2004. Michael has also interviewed key figures in Asia, including Lee Kuan Yew and Aung San Suu Kyi. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- BOOKS: The Gate to China: A New History of the People’s Republic & Hong Kong (2021) by Michael Sheridan, Daniel York, et al. The Red Emperor by Michael Sheridan (2024) ---------- LINKS: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-sheridan-4a7499109/ https://www.independent.co.uk/author/michael-sheridan ---------- ARTICLES: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/china-foreign-minister-qin-gang-netflix-b2384179.html https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/china-wuhan-covid-lab-leak-trump-b2351132.html https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/japan-asia-sushi-fukushima-nuclear-plant-b2399551.html https://cepa.org/article/portugal-steps-off-the-silk-road/ ---------- Please like and subscribe to see more great speakers and content on the Silicon Curtain channel, and check you are still subscribed to the channel, as many YouTubers covering the war in Ukraine have reporting losing subscribers, in a way that is unexplained, perhaps as part of some algorithmic change or process; I’d hate for you to miss out on some of the great greats we have lined up. Please also consider becoming a patron to support the work of the channel, or ‘Buy me a Coffee’. ----------

Elina Beketova is a Democracy Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). She has experience of working as a journalist, editor, and TV-anchor for news stations in Kharkiv and Kyiv. Elina is originally from Crimea. At CEPA, Elina Authored – Behind the Lines – a project about the latest developments in the temporarily occupied and recently liberated territories of Ukraine. For that study, she interviewed a wide range of Ukrainian voices – policymakers, activists, and officials. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- LINKS: https://cepa.org/author/elina-beketova/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/elina-beketova-a40b0016/ https://twitter.com/elina_beketova?lang=en https://www.kyivpost.com/authors/846 ---------- ARTICLES: https://cepa.org/article/behind-the-lines-ukraine-after-russias-invasion/ ---------- Please like and subscribe to see more great speakers and content on the Silicon Curtain channel, and check you are still subscribed to the channel, as many YouTubers covering the war in Ukraine have reporting losing subscribers, in a way that is unexplained, perhaps as part of some algorithmic change or process; I’d hate for you to miss out on some of the great greats we have lined up. Please also consider becoming a patron to support the work of the channel, or ‘Buy me a Coffee’. ----------

Dr Taras Kuzio is a British academic and Professor of Political Science at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and an expert on politics, crime and security in Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Taras Kuzio is of Ukrainian descent and received a BA in economics from the University of Sussex, an MA in Soviet studies from the University of London and holds a doctorate in political science from the University of Birmingham; he was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University. His most recent book is Russian Nationalism and the Russian-Ukrainian War (2022), which was published prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This follows two other books on Russia-Ukraine relations. In total, he is the author and editor of sixteen books. He is an associate research fellow at the UK Henry Jackson Society thinktank and has contributed to the Atlantic Council, Foreign Affairs, Kyiv Post, New Eastern Europe, and E-International Relations. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- ARTICLE: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/russia-and-the-anti-western-axis-must-be-militarily-defeated-shifting-the-western-consensus-toward-ending-russias-military-threat-to-ukraine-and-the-west/ ---------- LINKS: https://henryjacksonsociety.org/staff/dr-taras-kuzio/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taras_Kuzio https://twitter.com/TarasKuzio https://www.linkedin.com/in/taras-kuzio-3811583a/ https://archive.transatlanticrelations.org/fellows/taras-kuzio/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Taras-Kuzio/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ATaras+Kuzio ---------- Please like and subscribe to see more great speakers and content on the Silicon Curtain channel, and check you are still subscribed to the channel, as many YouTubers covering the war in Ukraine have reporting losing subscribers, in a way that is unexplained, perhaps as part of some algorithmic change or process; I’d hate for you to miss out on some of the great greats we have lined up. Please also consider becoming a patron to support the work of the channel, or ‘Buy me a Coffee’. ----------

Ben Hodges is a retired United States Army officer, who became commander of United States Army Europe in November 2014, and held that position for three years until retiring from the United States Army in January 2018. He was most recently a Senior Advisor to Human Rights First, until summer 2023, and serves as NATO Senior Mentor for Logistics. Until recently was the Pershing Chair in Strategic Studies, at the Centre for European Policy Analysis, specialising in NATO, the Transatlantic relationship and international security. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/general_ben https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hodges https://cepa.org/author/ben-hodges/ https://warsawsecurityforum.org/speaker/hodges-ben-lt-gen/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-hodges-1674b1172/ ---------- Please like and subscribe to see more great speakers and content on the Silicon Curtain channel, and check you are still subscribed to the channel, as many YouTubers covering the war in Ukraine have reporting losing subscribers, in a way that is unexplained, perhaps as part of some algorithmic change or process; I’d hate for you to miss out on some of the great greats we have lined up. Please also consider becoming a patron to support the work of the channel, or ‘Buy me a Coffee’. ----------

Lesia Dubenko is a political scientist and an Alumna of Lund University, with an Msc in European Affairs. She has eight years of experience in political and social journalism and has been published in the Financial Times, Politico Europe, New Eastern Europe, Atlantic Council, KP. In August 2018 she entered the Ukrainian NGO sector, and has been cooperating with different Ukrainian NGOs, including “Europe without Barriers”, “Internews Ukraine”, “European Pravda” and more. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- ARTICLES: https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-west-talk-global-south-partners-war-ukraine/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraines-counteroffensive-will-likely-create-new-reintegration-challenges/ https://www.ft.com/stream/cb65d50c-d074-4194-863f-d513b3226deb ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/LesiaLVD https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesiadubenko/ https://archive.kyivpost.com/author/lesia-dubenko https://www.politico.eu/author/lesia-dubenko/ ----------

Edition No22 | 31-10-2023 Russia opens Pandora's box - as a Pogrom unfolds in Dagestan. ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ Russia opens Pandora’s Box https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/10/30/it-felt-like-an-eternity https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/10/30/without-prevention-you-end-up-with-a-fire https://meduza.io/en/feature/2023/10/29/throwing-stones-and-setting-fires?utm_source=email&utm_medium=briefly&utm_campaign=2023-10-31 https://time.com/6329188/ukraine-volodymyr-zelensky-interview/ https://cepa.org/article/has-the-kremlins-dream-of-global-chaos-come-true/ Yuri Dud video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjmBHn1bUBI ~~~~~ USEFUL LINKS: Vatnik Soup https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi http://www.medbat.org.ua/en/ Real World News https://kyivindependent.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/ https://english.nv.ua/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/ https://meduza.io/en https://meduza.io/ https://novayagazeta.eu/ https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russia... Analysis https://www.ft.com/russia https://www.economist.com/ https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ https://cepa.org/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/ https://www.theatlantic.com/search/?s... YouTube Channels / @timesradio1 / @khodorkovskyru / @popularpolitics / @macknack / @plushev / @tvrain / @fake_news / @feyginlive ~~~~~

100 years ago, few in Western Europe cared about Ukraine – or its disappearance as an independent state – swallowed up as the newly born tyranny of the USSR flexed its imperial muscles; but that has now changed. Putin’s Russian World revanchism and violence have accelerated the evolution of Ukrainian identity and increased the pressure for social, political, and economic change. Perhaps the most perverse Russian invasion narrative, is that Ukraine is not old, and is not distinct from Russia in any case. But Ukraine is not just a footnote to Russian imperial history. And at the end of this war, Ukraine could prove to be the rock upon which the decrepit, brittle hull of the Russian imperial ship tears itself apart and sinks from history. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Kateryna Babkina is a Ukrainian poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. She is the winner of Angelus Central European Literature Award (2021) for her book ‘My Grandfather Danced’. Kateryna was born in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine and attended Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv to study journalism, graduating in 2007, after which she worked as a freelance journalist. Babkina's novella for children "Cappy and the Whale" was published in translation by Penguin Random House, UK. In April 2023. Kateryna was the first Ukrainian author to have her readings at the Library of Congress, US. ---------- LINKS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kateryna_Babkina https://twitter.com/babkina https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/295414/kateryna-babkina https://pen.org.ua/en/members/babkina-kateryna https://www.instagram.com/babkina ---------- POETRY St Elmo's Fire (2002) The Mustard (2011) Painkillers and Sleeping Pills (2014) Charmed for Love (2017) Does not hurt (2021) SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS Lilu After You (2008) Schaslyvi holi lyudy (Happy Naked People) (2016) ---------- NOVELS Sonia (2013) My Grandfather Danced the Best (2019) ---------- SCREENPLAYS Evil, as part of the 2013 Kinofest NYC festival ---------- PLAYS Hamlet.Babylon (2016), an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet ---------- CHILDREN'S STORIES Harbuzovyi rik (The Pumpkin Year) (2014) Шапочка і кит (The Hat and the Whale) (2015) Girls's power (2018, co-authored with Mark Livin) Snow heaty (2022) ----------

Edition No21 | 28-10-2023 The Hamas attacks on Israel seem to have divided Russian propagandists. Are some of them starting to realise the high price of siding with a genocidal regime, that sponsors terrorism? ~~~~~ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ~~~~~ NEWS LINKS: Russian Media Monitor https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews ~~~~~ The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/27/pro-moscow-ukrainian-politician-oleg-tsaryov-in-critical-condition-after-apparent-assassination-attempt ~~~~~ Kyiv Independent https://kyivindependent.com/ https://kyivindependent.com/polands-opposition-victorious-in-elections-proposes-new-government/ https://kyivindependent.com/none-of-it-made-any-sense-understanding-russias-disastrous-offensive-on-avdiivka/ https://kyivindependent.com/this-week-in-ukraine-ep-31-why-murderers-of-euromaidan-protestors-still-enjoy-impunity/ https://kyivindependent.com/ft-eu-leaders-back-using-profits-of-frozen-russian-assets-for-ukraine-aid/ https://kyivindependent.com/eu-returns-to-organizing-online-film-festival-in-russia/ https://kyivindependent.com/opinion-its-time-to-ban-russian-athletes-from-the-2024-olympic-games/ https://kyivindependent.com/as-bakhmut-counteroffensive-lags-soldiers-burnt-out-from-horrors-of-war/ https://kyivindependent.com/these-ukrainian-artists-writers-were-killed-by-russias-war/ https://kyivindependent.com/opinion-russias-defeat-must-be-democracies-goal/ ~~~~~ The Moscow Times https://www.themoscowtimes.com/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/27/how-russian-propaganda-built-an-alternate-reality-in-occupied-ukraine-a82900 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/27/russian-prosecutors-seek-3-year-jail-term-for-memorial-co-chair-a82918 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/27/russia-raises-interest-rates-to-15-on-inflation-fears-a82916 https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/27/are-russians-really-living-like-theres-no-war-a82906 ~~~~~ USEFUL LINKS: Vatnik Soup https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi http://www.medbat.org.ua/en/ Real World News https://kyivindependent.com/ https://www.kyivpost.com/ https://english.nv.ua/ https://www.themoscowtimes.com/ https://meduza.io/en https://meduza.io/ https://novayagazeta.eu/ https://www.newsweek.com/topic/russia... Analysis https://www.ft.com/russia https://www.economist.com/ https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ https://cepa.org/ https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/ https://www.theatlantic.com/search/?s... YouTube Channels / @timesradio1 / @khodorkovskyru / @popularpolitics / @macknack / @plushev / @tvrain / @fake_news / @feyginlive ~~~~~